Every tournament

Inbee Park shoots 69 to begin quest for fourth straight LPGA major

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) -- Inbee Park wasn't just
chasing history at St. Andrews. She was sprinting toward it.

All it took were three loose tee shots, a pair of
three-putts and one double bogey on the back nine Thursday in the Women's
Ricoh British Open to remind her that winning an unprecedented four straight majors in
one year is not going to be easy.

Park ran off six birdies in 10 holes to race to the top of
the leaderboard, only to stumble coming back in for a 3-under 69 that left her
two shots out of the lead.

"Felt like a roller coaster today," Park said.

Stacy Lewis, the former No. 1 who would love to be a
spoiler at St. Andrews, hit her stride on the back nine with a 31 that gave her
a 67 and a share of the lead midway through the opening round with Na Yeon Choi,
Nicole Castrale and Mi-Jeong Jeon.

Paula Creamer played bogey-free for a 68.

"Once the round started, and especially playing so good
the first few holes, that really gave me a lot of confidence," Park said. "I
didn't feel much pressure during the round. I'm just glad that it is already
started and I got the first round under my belt."

The conditions were perfect for scoring on the Old Course,
with light rain falling from a lead gray sky and barely any wind. Some of the
biggest names in women's golf, including Park, Lewis and Creamer, teed off in
front of the Royal & Ancient clubhouse with no more than a few dozen fans in
tow.

Park already has won three majors this year. No golfer,
male or female, has ever won four in one year. The 25-year-old South Korean said
she was more nervous than usual before getting to the first tee, perhaps because
of all the chatter about a Grand Slam.

It sure didn't show.

Park opened with a wedge into about 7 feet for birdie,
and then she really poured it on with an amazing display of her putting stroke.
She rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 3 with perfect pace. She hit a hybrid
the perfect distance on No. 4, giving her a flat line between ridges for an
18-foot birdie putt. She made a 35-foot birdie putt on No. 6, another birdie
just inside 20 feet on No. 8 and a sixth birdie on No. 10 after a wedge that
stopped 5 feet from the hole.

Just like that, there was a feeling of inevitability
about this Women's British Open, much like it was for Tiger Woods when he won
the British Open for the first time at St. Andrews by eight shots to complete
the career Grand Slam in 2000.

Dressed in a black rain suit, her emotions never changed,
even when she started to unravel.

It started with a tee shot into thick grass to the right
of the 12th fairway and a shot he hacked out to the front of the green, below a
3-foot ridge some 75 feet away. Park left the putt some 15 feet short, and made
that to save par.

But she couldn't save herself from another poor drive on
the 13th, and her second shot came dangerously close to a large gorse bush. She
chipped to 15 feet and made bogey, her first of the day. A delicate
pitch-and-run helped her avoid another bogey on the 15th after a tee shot to the
right.

Her biggest mistake came from the only bunker she found,
just short of the 16th green. The ball was a few feet from the lip, and Park was
tempted to take it up over the high face of the vetted wall. Instead, she turned
sideways and blasted out to the middle of the double green, the ball about
halfway between the holes cut for No. 2 and No. 16. From some 90 feet away, she
didn't hit it nearly hard enough, and her par putt from 15 feet caught the lip.

She also three-putted the 17th from 40 feet when her
first attempt came up 10 feet short. Considered one of the best putter on the
LPGA Tour -- and looking for a short time as though she couldn't miss -- Park
had consecutive three-putt bogeys and had lost four shots in a five-hole span.

"I thought that I fixed my problems coming into this
week. I was hitting it so good on the practice round and I didn't really miss
any balls," Park said. "I thought I was really prepared, but those couple of bad
shots really shocked me. I couldn't really concentrate on the greens when I hit
those shots. I've learned my lesson. Good thing I've got my time to fix that
today and tomorrow."

She still was only two shots behind, opening with a round
that could have been much better. Even so, Park had no complaints.

"A little disappointing, but I'm glad that I've done that
in the first round instead of the final round," she said. "I'm looking to
improve the next three days."

Only four months ago, Park and Lewis were battling for
No. 1 in the world until the South Korean left everyone in her wake by adding to
her major championship collection. The Kraft Nabisco Championship put her in
position to take No. 1 away from Lewis, and the playoff win at the LPGA
Championship and four-shot win at the U.S. Women's Open brought her to the brink
of something grand.

Lewis, however, has some history of her own at St.
Andrews. In her final event as an amateur, Lewis was part of the Curtis Cup team
that beat Britain & Ireland at the home of golf. Lewis won all five of her
matches. She turned pro and played in the final group of the U.S. Women's Open
at Interlachen, which Park rallied to win for her first major.

Lewis and Karrie Webb were on the 11th tee when they saw
Park make birdie to reach 5 under through eight holes.

"We both looked at each other and shook our heads," Lewis
said. "We knew she was going to be there, but it's like she keeps doing it over
and over and over again. The front nine is usually where you score. For me, it
was the opposite. And I feel lucky to get away with one today."